When a Rogue Meets His Match by Elizabeth Hoyt (Greycourt #1)

The second novel in New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Elizabeth Hoyt’s Greycourt Series features an enemies-to-lovers romance with her signature blend of captivating characters and sensual romance.

Ambitious, sly, and lethally intelligent, Gideon Hawthorne has spent his life clawing his way up from the gutter. For the last ten years, he’s acted as the Duke of Windemere’s fixer, performing the most dangerous tasks without question. Now Gideon’s ready to quit the duke’s service and work solely for himself. But Windermere wants Gideon to complete one last task, and his reward is impossible to resist: Messalina Greycourt’s hand in marriage.

Witty, vivacious Messalina Greycourt has her pick of suitors. When Windermere summons Messalina to inform his niece that she must marry Mr. Hawthorne, she is appalled. But she’s surprised when Gideon offers her a compromise: as long as she plays the complacent wife, he promises to leave her alone until she asks for his touch. Since Messalina is confident that she’ll never ask Gideon for anything, she readily agrees. However, the more time she spends with Gideon, the harder it is to stay away.

As When a Rogue Meets His Match opens, Messalina Greycourt is in the middle of a “pit stop” on her way home when she is more-or-less abducted by Gideon Hawthorne, her horrible uncle’s lackey aka fixer aka probably a murderer. Her uncle has summoned her. When they arrive in London, the Duke of Windermere delivers his coup-de-grace: she will marry Mr. Hawthorne. Immediately. As much as Messalina tries to refuse, she is in an impossible situation. If she refuses, her ruthless uncle will ruin not only her, but her younger sister. And possibly her brother. Just for fun. She reluctantly agrees to marry Hawthorne. The bishop is summoned and the marriage is concluded.

Hawthorne has achieved part one of his plan – make an advantageous marriage to help out his growing business propositions – but the former street urchin is now trapped by his work for the Duke of Windermere. For marriage to Messalina comes with a price: Windermere requires Hawthorne to truly act as his assassin. If Hawthorne agrees to perform this horrible act, he will lose Messalina forever (even before he has a chance with her).

I loved what Hoyt did with the characters of Messalina and Gideon – the aristocrat and the henchman. It’s a bit of a twist on the “rehab the villain” plot with a dose of “enemies to lovers” (and a little “hurt/comfort” at one point). I mean, Messalina might be pissed she’s married to Gideon, but he is dark and broody and when she’s washing his chest in the bath…might as well indulge if they’re married, right? (wink, wink) Gideon really does seem like a baddie in the previous book, but he’s more of a stock character there so this book fleshes him out beautifully. And while Messalina is the aristocratic daughter who has been raised to grace a drawing room and go shopping, she’s seen darkness and trauma and starts to consider how the life of the privileged impacts those of the lower classes. There’s a lot of external manipulation that works against the two of them, especially in Messalina’s case, so their resolution is really lovely.

I really like Hoyt’s writing in all her books but this one feels like she’s playing it a bit safe in places. She’s pulled back from the Wise Women/witches as a main plot element introduced in Freya’s book, which was really interesting if possibly unsustainable for a whole series, to focus more on the actual Greycourt siblings since Freya and Kester are family friends, but not directly in the line of fire of the nefarious Uncle Augustus the Duke. There’s also a bit of a villain switch at the end that comes out of left field unless you’re reading very closely. (It does make sense in the arc of the series, since the real Big Bad needs to last until what I think might be Julian’s book.)

(Personal: this is a title that doesn’t really work for me; Gideon is not a “rogue” – that word implies he’s more light-hearted or fun-loving in his exploits.)

When a Rogue Meets His Match is out December 1! A brief content warning that the backstory of the Greycourt siblings involves a lot of emotional trauma, gaslighting, and threat of physical harm and this does come through on the pages.

Dear FTC: I read a digital galley of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss.

Ex Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Reread by Michiko Kakutani

Summary from Goodreads: Pulitzer Prize–winning literary critic Michiko Kakutani shares 100 personal, thought-provoking essays about books that have mattered to her and that help illuminate the world we live in today—with beautiful illustrations throughout.

In the introduction to her new collection of essays, Ex Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Reread, Michiko Kakutani writes: “In a world riven by political and social divisions, literature can connect people across time zones and zip codes, across cultures and religions, national boundaries and historical eras. It can give us an understanding of lives very different from our own, and a sense of the shared joys and losses of human experience.”

Readers will discover novels and memoirs by some of the most gifted writers working today; favorite classics worth reading or rereading; and nonfiction works, both old and new, that illuminate our social and political landscape and some of today’s most pressing issues, from climate change to medicine to the consequences of digital innovation. There are essential works in American history (The Federalist Papers, The Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.); books that address timely cultural dynamics (Elizabeth Kolbert’s The Sixth Extinction, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale); classics of children’s literature (the Harry Potter novels, Where the Wild Things Are); and novels by acclaimed contemporary writers like Don DeLillo, William Gibson, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Ian McEwan.

With richly detailed illustrations by lettering artist Dana Tanamachi that evoke vintage bookplates, Ex Libris is an impassioned reminder of why reading matters more than ever.

Ex Libris is a nice book to dip in and out of – especially if you wondered what Michiko Kakutani likes to read when she isn’t writing book reviews. And that’s the important part of this book – it’s not the books that Kakutani thinks are “the best” but these are the ones she re-reads. (Because I would disagree greatly with several picks if this were a “best of” book.)

Dear FTC: I bought my copy of this book from my store.

Barely Functional Adult: It’ll All Make Sense Eventually by Meichi Ng

From the creator of Barely Functional Adult, a painfully relatable webcomic with over 125k followers on Instagram, comes a hilariously poignant collection of beautifully illustrated short stories that chronicle the ever-evolving perspectives of your twenties on work, therapy, identity, heartbreak, friendship, and more. 

Wielding her trademark balance of artful humor, levity, and heartbreaking introspection, Meichi Ng’s indisputably relatable collection of short stories holds a mirror to our past, present, and future selves.

Featuring a swaddled, gender-neutral, Barely Functional Adult as its protagonist, who says all the things we think but cannot say, this book is equal parts humorous and heartbreaking as it spans a spectrum of topics including imposter syndrome, therapy, friendships, first loves, letting go of exes, and just trying to find your purpose in the world. Prepare to excitedly shove this book in your friend’s face with little decorum as you shout, “THIS IS SO US!”

Barely Functional Adult is a fun and readable – and RELATABLE, oh that last chapter where she brings her “jars” to the new therapist – graphic memoir from Meichi Ng. If you like Barely Functional Adult as a webcomic, you’ll like the book. (And if you haven’t read either, have fun!)

This was an excellent galley to read on my iPad while waiting for the Best Buy tech to set up my new iPhone. 

Dear FTC: I read a digital galley from the publisher via Edelweiss.

The Big She-Bang: The Herstory of the Universe According to God the Mother by Marisa Acocella

Summary from Goodreads: Writing as if in a fever dream, iconic New Yorker cartoonist Marisa Acocella channels God the Mother and all of the goddesses, saints and sinners, and real-life women from our storied past in this epic retelling that begins with the Big She-Bang. The rest, as they say, is herstory.

Hilarious, profound, and (at times) profane, The Big She-Bang is virtuosic storytelling in which the rules are bent back to where they should have started in the first place. It is abundantly clear that the past has been recorded in big books “written by a bunch of men about a bunch of men.” Now Acocella challenges our understanding of humanity’s past with her own Big Book.

Narrated by God the Mother, The Big She-Bang celebrates the Shevolutionaries: a goddess roster that includes Eve, the Marys (Virgin Mother and Magdalene), Persephone, Sophia, Isis, Pope Joan, the Suffragettes, Gloria Steinem, Tarana Burke, Malala, and more. By Klieg-lighting the ways women have been erased, vilified, and dominated across eons—blamed for original sin, destruction, betrayal, witchery, and other assorted (and false) evils and ills—Acocella sets the story straight from the beginning of time to the present day. Not to be exclusionary, this new herstory features cameos from Yaldabaoth, Zeus, Noah, and the Rapacious Phalluses on the rampage. In the end, what hangs in the balance is nothing less than the future of humanity and Mother Earth herself.

I originally started reading The Big She-Bang as a digital galley last week – which turned out to have such corrupt formatting that I notified the publisher, who pulled the galley (bc they agreed it was “yikes”) and offered to send me a review copy.

Glad I said yes. I’ve been having trouble concentrating on reading this week – work at the hospital has become COMPLETELY UNGLUED as the surge is starting to hit and my study ramps up enrollment – and this book was just the thing to collapse with on the couch – and a blanket and a cider and the Mittens and the fireplace on – and just read and enjoy the colorful artwork. Acocella’s feminist retelling of early religious history and myth was a fun ride. It does lean heavier toward Judeo-Christian/Catholic figures but Acocella does bring in female figures from other beliefs. A one-sitting read for me. There were some transitions between panels or “chapters” that felt very rough to me, which made it hard to follow the thought process, but overall it just went down like “buttah”.

Out now!

Dear FTC: I was going to read a digital galley, but it turned out to be unreadable and the publisher kindly sent me a review copy instead.

Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

Summary from Goodreads: With nods to Bridget Jones and Pride and Prejudice, a charming #ownvoices queer rom-com debut about a free-spirited social media astrologer who agrees to fake a relationship with an uptight actuary until New Year’s Eve—with results not even the stars could predict!

After a disastrous blind date, Darcy Lowell is desperate to stop her well-meaning brother from playing matchmaker ever again. Love—and the inevitable heartbreak—is the last thing she wants. So she fibs and says her latest set up was a success. Darcy doesn’t expect her lie to bite her in the ass.

Elle Jones, one of the astrologers behind the popular Twitter account, Oh My Stars, dreams of finding her soul mate. But she knows it is most assuredly not Darcy… a no-nonsense stick-in-the-mud, who is way too analytical, punctual, and skeptical for someone as free-spirited as Elle. When Darcy’s brother—and Elle’s new business partner—expresses how happy he is that they hit it off, Elle is baffled. Was Darcy on the same date? Because… awkward.

When Darcy begs Elle to play along, she agrees to pretend they’re dating to save face. But with a few conditions: Darcy must help Elle navigate her own overbearing family over the holidays and their arrangement expires on New Year’s Eve. The last thing they expect is to develop real feelings during a fake relationship. But maybe opposites can attract when true love is written in the stars?

As Written in the Stars opens, Elle is running late to a blind date. She’s been set-up with the sister of her new business partner. Darcy is getting ready to leave when Elle finally arrives. They decide to have a glass of wine, but then the small talk goes disastrously wrong. Darcy, an actuary, kind of (ok, she actually does) insults Elle’s profession of astrology. Elle accidentally knocks over a glass of red wine on Darcy’s vintage silk dress. When Elle over hears Darcy on the phone talking about her in less than flattering terms, she ghosts.

Darcy’s well-meaning-but-nosy brother Brandon asks her for details about the date (seriously, he’s like the Romance Golden Retriever). Darcy tells him it went great just to get him to STFU. The next day Brandon sees Elle at a diner and gushes about how he’s so happy she hit it off with Darcy – right in front of Elle’s mom. So Elle stomps over to Darcy’s apartment – box wine in tow – to put Darcy’s feet to the fire. They’re gonna fake date through the holidays to get their families off their backs. Because Darcy’s got cold feet after getting emotionally scarred by her ex-fiancé and Elle’s family treats her like she’s just the lost little girl with the unserious profession and sad serial dating life.

Fake dating! Opposites attract! Jane Austen retelling! (yeah, did you guess Pride and Prejudice?) Christmas romance! Ugly sweaters! Super-cute! There’s a great double-date scene at Seattle Underground where they have to do an escape room and Elle’s knowledge of astrology and tarot comes in beyond useful. And then there’s a beautiful scene in the astronomy tower. This is a wonderful contemporary f/f romance debut – I’m so glad Avon has really opened up their romance line lately (better late than never) and diversified their offerings. So much good stuff from a favorite publisher.

Written in the Stars is out today! (Yeah, I handsold most of our stock in about two hours today, hahahaha.)

Dear FTC: I had a digital galley then wound up with a lovely review copy from the publisher.